Colombia hosts medical marijuana confab

Colombia, with a burgeoning medical marijuana industry, just saw its first international exposition on the theme, marking a step toward normalization of cannabis in a country hit hard by drug war violence over the past generations. The Medellín Botanical Garden was the scene of the ExpoMedeWeed from Nov. 24-27, with workshops and discussions on technical, medical and cultural themes related to expanding Colombia's legal cannabis sector. The affair won favorable coverage from major Colombian news outlets such as Bogotá daily El Espectador.

The stated aim was to break down the taboo and stigma of criminality that has long surrounded the herb in the conflicted country.

In November, 14 licenses were given to medical marijuana business by Colombia's Health Ministry. But there has been concern about foreign capital flooding the nascent legal cannabis sector in "green gold rush," with traditional peasant growers—who bore the brunt of drug war repression—being squeezed from the market.